Esteemed Colleagues:
The level of trust enjoyed by the W3C is a fragile thing of great value.
The fairness of policy that is the foundation of that trust is also the
foundation of much hope in the developing world. Now, more than ever, even
the appearance of diminishing the hopes of economically marginalized
populations must be avoided out of self interest, if not plain decency.
If the W3C takes a strong stand against incorporating encumbered
technologies into standards, trust will remain. But if the W3C comes to be
perceived as a front for sharpies, we will watch this wonderful WWW
disintegrate into a small group of armed camps focused more on contention
than conversation. We already have enough of those.
Keep the faith,
Gregory Tropea
Dept. of Philosophy
Cal. State Univ., Chico